Bigs

and try to find a guard with the 20 trade up big if necessary.

I actually think the Center trio of Kanter/Jonas V./Biyombo is very intriguing. They are all young and each offers something different. As those guys start doing individual workouts, I could easily see certain teams falling in love with one of them because they may be a great fit for their roster.

One example: The Sixers. I doubt that they believe Hawes or Speights is the answer at Center for the future. I wonder if they were to fall in love with a guy like Biyombo if they would be willing to put Iguodala in play, especially with Evan Turner now slowly but surely getting better.

So I’m not sure there’s any comp there. Thomas had the body of a 3 coming into the league but was forced to play the 4. BB at least has some muscle on him and will be able to bang with the big boys in the NBA.

and you’re kind (the statistically oriented ones who want to win and insist that you can’t do that through the draft every year, which I mostly agree with).

Do you take Williams over Beasley? I don’t think Beasley is better than Williams because I think he is almost completely average and only helps a team score with little else. I’d trade Beasley (maybe for Varejao) and roll with Williams instead. I’m kind of sick of our ‘star’ not being able to lead us to 20 wins even with Love beside him. Though maybe Love holds just as much accountability…

with pick 20

right last name though

I think DM is the sleeper in this draft

and he might still be improving.

I mentioned this in an earlier post up above – as teams get a closer look at the Euro-Centers (and Biyombo), I wouldn’t be surprised if on some boards they rise to #2 because of specific fit/need issues.

I think we are gonna have to think outside the box on this draft, and you are approaching it that way.

I think the overall strategy is important in this draft. And an important piece of that strategy is to avoid getting our salary base too high, and avoid creating commitments to players that don’t have the potential to be worth their salary commitment. With that in mind, I’m thinking in terms of guidelines from a big picture perspective, something like this:

1. To avoid salary problems, we have to trade Beasley. We can probably get some kind of asset for him, like a pick in this draft or a player with some defensive potential, or maybe he gets packaged for a player like Varejao — an idea proposed by someone else that I like. But the main thing is we gotta get rid of Beas because his salary will be too high for his value. He’s had opportunity to really bloom, he’s a fun guy to have on the team, but he just does not have the mental attitude to be a significant player for us. So to sign him again is flat wrong. The sooner we trade him, the better, and we can certainly get more for him than we paid. I would make this a primary goal right now, and it overrides the importance of who we pick, because there is know way we can know right now what pick we get. So for me, trading Beas is a given, and trading Flynn is an imperative for the same reason.

2. To avoid future salary problems, and also logjam problems, we don’t want two guys added to the team from this draft — unless we do more pruning of the roster in addition to Beas. My take is that if we have a pick in the later rounds, we gotta think hard on doing another Euro stash. It keeps the salary level down two ways — no salary drag for 2011/12 and maybe not for 2012/13, and we get a quality guy like Valenciunas (maybe) for a 20 pick salary.

3. Obviously, with the above two ‘rules’, I think it is a waste of time to discuss who we pick at 20 unless we discuss who we pick as a Euro stash. It is much more interesting to figure out what we can get for Beasely/Flynn and perhaps Rubio.

Based on that, here is what I’d do — but of course I’ll change my mind as things change.

- If we get #1 pick, we take Irving, and Rubio goes on the trading block. Maybe we trade Rubio for a BiBo pick, but we need to know more about him than we do right now. Otherwise, try to package Rubio, Beas, Flynn & other stuff for a quality 2 guard or defensive big.

- If we get #2 pick, draft Williams. Trade Beas for what we can get. While we want to optimize the value, it is more important to get his future salary off the roster than to hold out for “value”. Trading him for a future pick would be fine with me. Rubio would be our PG, or we take other action like a trade. I am totally open to trade Rubio assuming we get great value for him. I’d try using Williams at the 3, and if he works out, then Wes or Martell become expendable at a later date.

- If we get #3, I’d go for BiBo if his draft workout lives up to the hype. He’d be a good front court mate with Love. We trade Beas and filler for what we can get, aiming to fill the 2 spot.

- If we end up with pick 20, then I’d do a Euro stash, we don’t need to be training any more rookies while paying them a couple million/year. But for me, in this draft, trading the 20 pick for 2nd rounders makes sense, no salary commitment.

In this way, we preserve some salary cap flexibility, and change the team in a positive way (IMHO).

As fans, we get emotionally attached to players. I really looked forward to Beas being on his way to an All-Star player, but my gut right now says he will never make it due to his mentality. Wes has more promise, but he’s expendable too because he’s not got the aggressiveness we need. A great guy, quality individual, but we need more players with the incredible focus that a player like Kobe has had in his career (and yep, he’s a jerk in many ways).

I’m big on attitude. Williams has a great motor and aggressive attitude, we need a player like that. Same for BiBo, according to reports so far. If we could somehow trade into a situation where we get both Williams & Bibo, or Irving & BiBo, I’m cool with that too. We’d have an injection of attitude that this team needs.

Though he probably is not worth a top 4 pick. I didn’t realize Biyombo hadn’t returned to Fuenlabrada. I’m not so sure that’s a wise move.

Kanter is interesting, but it is a real negative for his development that he was unable to play competitive basketball this season. Plus I doubt Kahn is interested, and I’m not entirely sure he works with Love.

This draft does suck.

He is a tremendous athlete, can handle the ball well, and is an excellent 3pt shooter. He should be at least an average defender at the 3.

He wouldn’t be a second pick in most drafts but he is good and he is one of the most NBA ready players in the Draft.

although it’s hard to teach outside shooting and the knack for drawing contact. Those seem like things that can translate. I do worry about his ideal position and defense though.

Blake Griffin
James Harden
Jonny Flynn
LeMarcus Aldridge
Rudy Gay

It’s not as rare as you think